Story+1984-08-11+East+Rutherford,+NJ

´´Now...I used to...I worked up in North Jersey or up in New York City all the time.....and I´d always end up....(?)....I´d always end up riding home real....late at night ´round 3.30 a.m ....which is nice ´cause I used to like it, not too much traffic...I had a girlfriend down in.... South Jersey...and uh....I´d be riding right up around this area...and the thing I noticed is that North Jersey...the geographical area of North Jersey resembles most....to me, is the moon.... so if you´re riding through the night, you don´t see nothing but those....little lights from refineries....and sometimes I´d be sitting in the car, I´d be daydreaming....and what happens is I get into these dreams, like I always wanted to be an astronaut....and I´d be driving along and I´d imagine I´m in a space shuttle....I´m looking down....outside my window....and the moon....the moon´s not an empty place....as I look down, I see....that below, there´s all these beautiful women....and they´re holding up these signs that say ´Starved for love´....and I´d be daydreaming like this and I´d be going on and I always miss my exit....(?) try to get off....try to get off on the Parkway (?)...then I´ll say ´Well, I´ll catch Exit 8´....and then I´ll be daydreaming again and I´ll miss that....so one night I ended up....down towards Pennsylvania or somewhere....and I stopped in this Howard Johnson´s....and I sat at the table....and when the waitress asked me for my order, I said, uh....´One giant step for mankind, two cheese-burgers to go´...and then I laid my head on the table....and I had a dream.... (....) As I had my head down sleeping on the counter....the waitress came over and naturally woke me up....I got outside, got in my car....I was running so late....I had to run (?) open all night....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Open All Night´**

´´(?)...pick up a paper these days....you see, uh, more people that....seem to be isolated from their families or their friends....or the community they live in....or the government....till they don´t know what to do....(?) explode....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Nebraska´**

´´Getting loose now....how´s everybody in the backseat ? (cheers)....you´re not one of ´em backseat drivers, are you ?....alright....this is a song....about how when you go out on the weekends....you always go someplace....where you see somebody....who says they knew you when you were in high school....and tell you about what a great time you had in high school ...now, personally, I had a lousy time in high school....I hated high school....when the fall comes around, it´s been 15 years, I´m still glad I don´t have to go to high school.....had a terrible time....couldn´t study, I was bad at that....I was bad at sports....I was bad at....I got better at that....anyway....this song´s (?) for anybody out there who´s still in high school...”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Glory Days´**

´´This is for all the....all the old cars out there in the parking lot (chuckles)....old cars never die....they just break down all the time (chuckles)....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´Used Cars´**

´´When I was....I was growing up, there was this park that was kind of close by to my house ....and uh, there was a monument in the middle of it and I can remember when my mother used to ask me where I was going, I´d tell her ´Oh, I´m gonna go, we´re gonna go play over by the monument´...and uh....then when I got in my teens, I got in my first band....and when we got around the time when we were gonna have our first publicity pictures taken and so, so we went down to Englishtown Auction (chuckles)....and....and we got these....they were like kind of plastic make-believe snakeskin vests and we got these shirts with frills, like, uh, like the Kinks used to wear all the time....and we had Beatle boots and....and we went down and we decided we were gonna get our picture taken, said ´Well, we´ll get it taken out in front of the monument´, we brought our guitars down and....you had to have all the poses just right.....the important thing was you could never smile, any picture that we smiled we threw out, wasn´t cool enough (chuckles)....(?) I grew up kind of around this park and this monument, my whole life I never knew, never really knew what it was a monument to.... ended up there was a Revolutionary War battle that was fought outside, outside of town..... and before we came out on tour this time, I went.....I went down to Washington and I saw the Lincoln Memorial....which is really something to see....and I saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial....which is really, it´s a real sad and real beautiful thing....but uh....I guess it´s good to know a little about where you, where you come from and where....where the community that you´re living in is coming from so you´re able to know where you´re going to...and monuments, they´re there so that....so that you´ll always remember, so that you´ll never forget....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´My Hometown´**

´´Well, thanks....it´s nice playing, playing (?) here because....I guess just about everybody ...that´s ever been a friend to me or helped me out has been....has been down here one of these nights...and uh....there´s only one guy that´s not here and he´s off doing what he has to do so....this is for Little Steven, wherever he may be....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, intro to ´No Surrender´**

´´There we were....it was a night....just like tonight....it was in the middle of the summer....it was the full moon....it was a long, long time ago....I had just met Clarence ....he was working at the massage parlour, I mean at the lawyer´s office (chuckles).... I was working in the bowling alley...setting up pins....and....we were desperate....we didn´t know what to do with ourselves...we were lost, we had no direction to our lives ...we needed some guidance, we needed some inspiration, we needed some hope, we needed some faith, we needed a couple of girls....so Clarence said that he knew these two young ladies who lived not too far outside of town....so we got in his Oldsmobile ....and we drove south on Route 9....and we drove and we drove down to the pines.... we was so downhearted....and then....just when we thought we´d hit bottom....when we couldn´t go no further down....we got a flat tire....insult to injury ....so we were on this backroad....clouds covered the moon....it was dark....we couldn´t decide whether to...go out and check the trunk or whether to roll up the windows and wait till (?), wait till the sun comes up....we decided....we´d do this the democratic way...that we´d choose to see who´s gonna check the trunk....I won....then I went and checked the trunk.... there was nothing, no spare....emptiness....so Clarence said he knew where there was a gas-station.... just on the other side of these woods....so deep into the forest we went....it was dark, it was spooky....there were noises coming from everywhere ....we couldn´t see our hands in front of our faces (chuckles)....now, Big Man, there ain´t no, there ain´t like no, no, there´s no dangers in these woods, no, there ain´t no wild animals in New Jersey ?....(?) there ain´t no big animals in New Jersey, is there ?...what about like killer chipmunks or, oh, wait, I hear something behind us, I hear something in these woods....you sure it´s alright ? .... there´s not much further to go ?....I think I hear something....(cries) oh, Clarence .... whooa! ....oh, Clarence, oh, Clarence, hey, Clarence.... Clarence....where are you ?...Aahh, jeez, don´t do that, don´t do that....oh, things were getting worse...we were going through old Abbott and Costello routines (chuckles) and then....and then all of a sudden something came shooting out of the sky....then the clouds uncovered the moon and over in the clearing, we saw the answer ...to our quests....and we stood there in the moonlight and then ....and then ...when we touched...”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Growin´Up´**

´´Alright, ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages....it´s now my honor, it is now my duty...to introduce to you the members of the E Street Band....beginning with our newest member....a young man we met while on a trip in South Jersey, Jim the Dancing Bear !...don´t worry, folks, he´s completely docile....alright, to the far left of the stage....on the piano, we have a man who gave up a scholarship to Yale University in unusual sexual practises just to be here tonight, to tour with the E Street Band.... that´s dedication !...ladies and gentlemen, you may know him for his well-known study of the lost tribes of Hoboken or you may know him as the only member of our combo with a full, complete high school diploma....which he has with him at all times...ladies and gentlemen, let´s hear it for education and ´Professor´ Roy Bittan....the brains of the entire operation....next, an alumni of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes....from Long Branch, New Jersey, Miss Patti Scialfa ....next, a gentleman who brings you the thunder from down under, his mother was a Tallent, his father was a Tallent, Mr.Garry W.Tallent....next, on the drums, we have a man, not only a drummer but an author of the soon-to-be best selling book, ´The Big Beat´, which you can pick up at 9.95 at the mall, ladies and gentlemen, the ´Mighty One´, Max Weinberg on the drums....on the organ, the inimitable, the immemorable, the immovable, the incredible, the immoral, the unbelievable, the fantastic, the original sinner, ladies and gentlemen, lookout, girls, he hates to be alone, ´Phantom´ Dan Federici.....and now, on the guitar, a man that´s sweet as life itself, drumroll please....Mr.Nils Lofgren.....(Nils does his trampoline stunt) .... (?)....and now, last but not least....I´ve run out of words to describe this next gentleman .... he´s a close personal friend of mine....let me just say that ´C´ is for his cool which just grows and grows....´L´ is for his (?) which comes and then goes....´A´ is ´cause he´s the apple of my eye....´´R´ is for though he´s the king of the world, he´s just a regular kind of guy...´E´ is ´cause he´s everything near and dear to me....´N´ is ´cause there´s nothing like him and there´s never ever gonna be....´C´ is for that C-note he´s owed me since 1963 ....´E´ is for everything else, you put that together, what´s that spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence!´) what´s that spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence!´) what´s that spell ? (crowd : ´Clarence!´)....on the saxophone, Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons....”
 * 11.08.84 Meadowlands, NJ, middle of ´Rosalita´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//